An Atuk at last

I am very happy. My life is now complete.  At 74, I am now a genuine datuk; a real Atuk or grandpa; although I have been a Johor Dato' since 1982.  It's a nice feeling having a descendant at last.

My No 1 son, Zaki's wife Sabrina gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Puteri Soraya, on Saturday 30 Nov 2013 at 11:56 am.  She weighed 3.11 kg (6.856 lb) at birth.  Both mother and baby are doing fine and have since been discharged from the Post Natal ward of the Sime Darby Medical Centre, Subang Jaya.

Here's a video (taken with my Galaxy Note II smartphone) of the baby and dotting grandma.

...and here's another video taken at Sabrina's father's house in 1Utama on Wednesday 4 Dec 2013.

and here's a few pictures of Soraya two months or so later:

Dina had an operation

I came home from my Australian Outback 4x4 trip on  Friday 25 October. It was an exhausting trip, the most exciting part being the one week 1200+ km dune driving from Kulgera to Birdsville. It was... 

Whoa, this posting is not going to be about that trip. You can read all about it in my other blog Datomus Travel.

This posting is about the surprise that awaited me when I arrived home that Friday morning. I was told that Dina had an operation to remove both her ears because the cancer on one ear had spread to the other ear. Dina was no where around because I think she was feeling self conscious. Usually she would be there to greet me in her proud but manja way; but not this time. It was only late in the evening when I was leaving for Mama’s house that she made a silent appearance.
Upon seeing her I thought she looked a fright. And she kept her distance knowing that my reactions upon seeing her "new" look was rather unusual.  Of course I reconciled myself soon enough and accepted the fact that the operation was the best thing for her.  At least she is not an invalid with amputated arms or legs or anything like that.  And our love for her has not diminished. Really.

Dina is our cat.

Dina has been with us since 2004 when Becky, Zaki's Alice Smith schoolmate, had to uproot herself and didn't want Dina to go to SPCA. Dina have been spoilt by Becky's father quite a bit; and Becky thought we would be just right to take over. Dina was five years old then. Oh yes, Mek loved her and spoilt her further with extremely frequent brushings of her fur, monthly bath, shampoo, medical checks and healthy cat foods. 

Sure enough she took to living in a house with a garden being a lot more pleasant than the apartment she was used to. So she established her territory quite quickly and would survey her "realm" from the upstairs balcony every so often. The neighbourhood tomcats would also come a- calling quite often and on these visits there would be fierce fights. Being neutered she was not interested in procreation and fended off any attempts by the amorous tomcats that came around. After these fights she would suffer some scratches. I think it must have been on one of these fights that her ears got infected. In spite of medication, it got worse because of Dina's dislike to wearing the funnel collar that could have saved her from scratching her ears. How it became cancerous, I don't know. Suffice to say that this was the result of the biopsy tests of samples of her infection that was sent to Canada for analysis. So the Vet had to operate on her ears. All that cost Mek about RM 5,000.  

Afternote:  Since the operation, she had to go back and forth to the Vet hospital. Her condition deteriorated and finally Mek agreed for Dina to be put to sleep.

Why is my name Muslim?

I’ve always wondered why my father chose this name Mohd Muslim. It is normal, of course, to have the Mohd (for Mohamad) in front of the other name. But why Muslim? Well, one reason could be that he expected me to be pious, religious. Yeah, he did have the idea of sending me to Al Azhar Egypt and with that I’d come back to become an Imam like him, or become a Kadhi or better still, the State Mufti. However, I am glad that he didn’t do that (send me to Egypt) and instead readily agreed to have me join the FMC in Port Dickson and pursue my choice career in the newly formed Air Force.
The other reason could be to make me live up to that name. As a religious scholar himself, he must have been inspired by the famous scholars of the Hadith - Bukhari and Muslim. So naming me Muslim probably have something to do with his desire to make me pious, religious and well versed in Islam.
Related to that, I now could see that my father had visions of the future. I am now living in “his future” and I have seen the Islamic religion being misused for political expediency or to justify hatred between the two major sects - Sunni and Shi’a adherents. And also to justify the jihadist’s world view of the injustices done to the Muslims. Worst still, the Muslim world is way off the mark of being progressive, advanced in knowledge in science and technology; or the arts.
Now, Bukhari and Muslim were great Islamic scholars during the glory days of Islamic civilization where knowledge in science, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, architecture and the arts were renowned while the Europeans were still living in the dark ages. Unfortunately, all that changed with the decline of the various Islamic empires due to corruption of thought and other excesses; and the rise of the European powers and their inventiveness using knowledge gained through efforts of the Islamic scholars whose books and writings were translated into their respective languages. Muslim scholarship, regrettably, retreated into fundamentalism with the rise of wahabism especially in Saudi Arabia. Thus the progressive Muslim society during the days of Bukhari and Muslim became regressive in the century of the Industrial Revolution.  Europe progressed while the Muslim world regressed (until today.)
God even endowed the Islamic countries with the precious commodities needed by the industries of the world -- oil and gas -- but unfortunately, greed and laziness made them “pawn” the wealth to western powers with the technology and financial shrewdness. The so-called knowledge transfer was ineffective at best and young Muslims failed to excel in spite of all the opportunities.
So my father probably had wanted me to know about Bukhari and Muslim and emulate them.  Seek knowledge, the kind of knowledge that the Muslims in those days were free to explore and exploit. Well, I do know about Bukhari and Muslim; and I have been to Bukhara where the Imam Bukhari mausoleum is found.  Imam Muslim, however, is from Nishapur, NE Iran. His grave is there too.
I love learning and believe that it’s never too late to learn.  Thus at this age (74+) I am proficient with the keyboard and up-to-date with the latest in ICT. I design and maintain websites and blogs that even some youngsters don’t do or don’t know how to. 

So I am living up to my name quite well, I think, except that the religious bit is a little wanting.

Chin Peng is dead

Chin Peng died in Bangkok on Sept 16 just five weeks short to his 90th birthday on Oct 21. He was, of course, the MCP leader who wanted to take over Malaya when the Japanese surrendered in 1945. During the void before the BMA was instituted, the MPAJA – the military wing of the MCP --  took reprisal actions against the Malays whom they claim sided with the Japanese during the occupation.  My uncle, Hj Othman – Eton and Wok’s grandfather -- was whisked away into the jungle in the middle of the night and had not been seen or heard of since. And, of course, I had many friends and colleagues who died in the course of duty fighting the CTs during the Emergency years 1948-60 and the second “Emergency” that followed the May 13 riots until 1989.

I can understand that the Chinese DAP supported the idea of bringing his body back for burial in Sitiawan.  He had many relatives in the DAP.  But for PAS and PKR (two Malay-based parties) to support it, saying that he was a hero fighting British colonialism, is simply stupid and unthinking; and ignorant of historical facts. Furthermore, did they not have relatives or friends in the military or police force that died or were maimed during the Emergency years because of Chin Peng? Didn’t these morons not have any feelings for the wives and children of those soldiers and policemen killed or were maimed because of Chin Peng? And Chin Peng or his real name Ong Boon Hua, was not even a Malaysian citizen!  But then the pro-Chin Peng sentiments are also being expressed even by MCA people; and worse still by PAS.  As Shamsul Akmar (The Mole Editor) said in his NST article Sunday 22 Sep 2013 “…there is no cure for imbecility.”

I am glad PM Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak is firm in not allowing even his ashes to be brought into this country. He even told them that if they are so serious about it "take us to court."

Malaysia turns 50

It’ll be a holiday this Monday 16 September 2013.  Malaysia turns 50 on that day.  Only two weeks ago we celebrated Merdeka (Independence) Day on 31 August.  It was a Saturday, and the Monday was not declared holiday in-lieu.

We used to celebrate both days on 31 August, until three years ago (2010) when the Opposition made some hue and cry about the people of Sabah and Sarawak should not be made to celebrate Malaya’s independence day instead of the day when they joined Malaya to form Malaysia on 16 September, 1963.

So, there we are, another holiday for holiday-rich Malaysians.

For the Armed Forces, 16 September is Armed Forces Day when there would usually be a grand “trooping the colours” parade at Sungai Besi Camp; and various units in the country would have an Open Day.

That means the public could visit the units and see displays of weaponry, aircraft and ships at close quarters; and learn about the roles and functions of the Armed Forces. It’s not a holiday though. 
So now, what? Well, this year they’ll still celebrate their 80th anniversary and hold a parade and display at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on Sept 21.  Hooray!

Afternote:
Would you believe it. A Datuk Seri Dominic Andrew Dago who was involved in the discussion with the Cobbold Commission regarding the formation of Malaysia in 1963, said he suggested the name of the new country should be "Borbrusima," What a scream!

eBerita1310

This is a test of linking/exporting my handiwork regarding the Pudu Rotary Club's weekly newsletter eBerita1310 for the week of 9 Sep 2013.

Tanda Putera

I went to see the Malay movie Tanda Putera by Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba the night of 4 Sep. There was so much controversy that the movie was only released for public viewing on 29 August, more than a year late.  So that made me curious, hence I must see it to verify what the fuss was all about.

It was a ‘tear jerker’ actually.  The acting was superb by the guys who played Tun Razak and Tun Dr Ismail and also the ladies that played Toh Puan Rahah and Toh Puan Nor Ashikin.  The emotions displayed in the scenes when Tun Razak was suffering his advanced leukemia was so real that even I had to wipe my eyes several times.  The movie also managed to show Tun Razak’s caring persona when in London before falling really sick, he went shopping for gifts for all his staff at the PMO and his loved ones. And Tun Razak was a caring person not only to those close to him but more so to the people and the country that he led.
Regarding the main characters, the lady who played Toh Puan Rahah had so much likeness to her; likewise the guy who played Dr Mahathir could be recognised straight away. Good casting.  The gangster CT boss’ acting was also good and believable.  He was despicable, and that meant good acting in my book.  But for the other personalities respective likeness to Hussein Onn, IGP Haniff Omar, Sardon Jubir, Harun Idris, Tunku Abd Rahman or Najib ; there were no likeness at all. And their acting efforts were also stiff at best.
On the issue of May 13 that DAP Lim Guan Eng got so riled up about, well…there were scenes of the riots with the DAP logo/posters quite prominently displayed. For those who have read the NOC report the atrocities depicted only confirm what they’d visualise from the report; but for those that have not read the report it’d appear to them as just another demo, similar to the Arab Spring demos on TV and also our own Bersih nonsense. Really it’s no big deal to worry about; it’s just a visualisation of a page of our history; unless of course you wish to dispute the historical facts. Saying that it'd incite racial tension is a load of BS.  

BTW, a good write-up on May 13 can be found here by blogger Jebat Must Die.

Merdeka 2013

It’s Medeka Day tomorrow 31st August 2013. Somehow the atmosphere is not there; at least I don’t feel it as much as when I was in service. Probably because I am not invited to any of the functions that generals get invited to. No, I am not being sour grapes. I really miss all that pomp and pageantry of parades, dressing up for dinners and such.
And certainly it was not the way I felt on the actual day 56 years ago at the Merdeka Stadium. I was there lining up the inside of the stadium as "point man."   Being senior boys of the FMC we were given this honour. As I witnessed the whole proceedings unfold before me, I felt such great pride to be part of history. I was at a position quite close to the dais where Tunku Abdul Rahman, our first Prime Minister, shouted "Merdeka, Merdeka..." seven times with the crowd shouting likewise in thunderous response. I actually felt the rush of Adrenalin and my bulu roma standing on ends. We all stood at attention watching the Jalur Gemilang, our brand new national flag being hoisted. A new nation was born; and we fought for it through military and diplomatic means. And today when it became known that some fringe lunatics led by our Poet Laureate, Dato A. Samad Said, wanted to change that flag to "Sang Saka Malaya" I felt like doing the unthinkable to this traitor.  I hope the Home Minister will take due action on this unkempt, mad 78 year old man. He and his cohort (Hishamuddin Rais and Adam Adli) that's shown in the picture above deserve to be thrown into the slammer.

Right now there’s too much going on around the world and back home that’s not to my liking.  I am disappointed with the Arabs for being so stupid to be manipulated – one after another – into the Arab Spring. I was in Cairo in May 2011 and saw the devastation to their economy. They had a free and

fair election but the losers didn't like the winners. So they demonstrated again and toppled the democratically-elected government. They are now worse off. I was in Tunisia in Dec 2012 but the Tunisians appear to a bit more sane. Libya and Yemen removed their dictators but they are not any better off. And now Syria who stubbornly resisted the onslaught, is having a civil war since March 2011 (more than 24 months already.)  And with any war, winning counts and by any means. It’s no surprise therefore that the regime would use chemical weapons; but who pushed them into it?  Who sold them the ingredients to make the nerve gas?
I had friends who went to Syria to study and lived there several years. They were full of praise of the living conditions and standards they experienced; and how friendly the people were. How come there is so much animosity now? Is it really a Sunni-Shia issue or some hidden hands at work. Remember, Al Qaeda is also fighting the Assad regime in Syria. So, is the US on the side of Al Qaeda now? I am glad the Brits have learnt their lesson with the Iraqi adventure and voted not to support the US hawks. I wonder if Obama is up to it – to resist all the hawkish noises or join the likes of George W Bush.
On the home front Anwar is making overtures to Najib. His Merdeka message was very conciliatory, excerpts thus:
“Titik pertemuan BN dan PR perlu segera dicari bagi menyelamatkan negara di samping menyeru melupakan kesalahan masing-masing sempena hari kemerdekaan negara esok,” katanya ketika menyampaikan perutusan itu di Ibu Pejabat PKR di Petaling Jaya hari ini.
Cheeky bugger.  I hope Najib won’t be so stupid to fall for this desperado tricks. Meanwhile  PAS is struggling with Shia infiltration in their ranks. And the DAP is compromising their CAT principles. Recently the government of Penang issued an “advisory” to cinemas in the state to not show the film “Tanda Putra” centred on Tun Razak and Tun Ismail’s handling of the aftermath of the May 13, 1969 tragedy which didn’t show DAP in a very good light. To top it all, the Appeal Court acquitted Azilah and Sirul from the charges of murdering Altantuya seven years ago, on a technicality. Just like Anwar got away from two sodomy cases on a technicality.
Our economy is also not doing well with the Ringgit depreciating sharply against the major currencies. With the UMNO General Assembly scheduled for late this year, Najib is not on a very strong footing. I wonder if the acronym RAHMAN is becoming a truism.

Saedah is not well

Ham and I went back to Ipoh for Raya yesterday Tuesday 13 Aug. We stopped by Saedah’s house at Changkat Larang first. But she was not home. She had been admitted to Hospital Tuanku Bainon for her breast cancer chemo treatment. So we went to the hospital to see her.

As usual she was cheerful although she said the cancer has spread and she was in pain and discomfort most of the time. This time around most probably they’ll do mastectomy as well; thus she would be losing both breasts. She is 59. After that we went to Kg Kolam, Tanjung Rambutan, to see Saedah’s mother who is 80. She is Ham’s elder sister.

She looks well, her only problem is the inability to walk, hence spends most of her time in bed.  She is also well looked after by her youngest recently divorced son; and grandson and his wife.  Then a stop at Ham’s other sister’s house in Tambun before heading for KL around 5:30 pm. There was some heavy traffic around Slim River otherwise it was smooth travel.  We arrived home just after 8:30 pm. A 3-hour drive – that’s not bad.

Raya 2013

It looks like we won’t have our annual joint family breakfast together at Taman Perwira house this time round. Mek is still wheel-chair bound, Zaki and Sabrina are at her mother’s, Fahd still in New Zealand, Nani in Dubai and Ida in London.

That leaves Faizal and Faritz, two late-nighters who are unlikely to even want to get up early in the morning. So, it’s just me and Ham then for Raya breakfast tomorrow morning. Never mind, it’s Raya – Maaf Zahir Batin. Open House                  This is just a few of Mek's nephews, nieces, and grandkids As usual Mek would have her open house on the first day of Raya. And this time it's no different. Even before the appointed time of 12 noon, we had our first visitors. The stream of relatives and friends continued right through to just before 4 pm when the caterers prepared to pack up.  The weather was lovely thanks to a bit of rain the night before.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and one Rotary wife even quipped "Please don't change the menu.  We love your lamb, mee curry, kuey teow, rendang, lemang, ketupat, spaghetti, ice kacang, cakes...and what else ah..." Mek is also a good storyteller.  So when her niece Raja Maizura and her family came on Saturday 17 August night for Raya, her son and daughter -- the curious duo --  had Wan Mek tell them bits about their grandfather Raja Arif, their ancestry and also an interesting story of how Kelantan was won by their mutual ancestor Long Yunus by winning a cock-fight with the Sultan of Trengganu. And how she sorted out Raja Zainal's Shell station business in Jalan Raja Chulan.  To top it all was the story about her mother's elephant ride back to Kelantan. I think one day I'll write a book on all her stories.

A Quiet 74

I turned 74 three days ago, on Monday 22 July to be exact. It was a quiet affair; no parties, dining out, nothing. Some of the children remembered, others didn’t. But my Rotary colleagues at RC Pudu remembered, sent a birthday card, fined me four times since 1 July and sang the birthday song.
I think I am feeling my age now. I am beginning to feel pain in my left knee area, especially during the duduk antara dua sujud for the tahyat awal. However, I am not yet into using a  chair to do my solat like some of my younger friends. My masseur said it’s muscular and not bone problem. I can walk but not as brisk as before. Running? yes a bit, but I quickly get out of breath.
Nevertheless, I am looking forward to my next 4x4 adventure trip to the Australian Outback in October 2013. It’s just a 24 day trip: Darwin-Alice Springs-Uluru-Simpson Desert-Brisbane. And Raja Azma is funding my air travel as a belated birthday present. Thank you, my dear.

GE 13

Notice my inked finger. A bit 3rd world, but that’s what Dumbiga wanted. We could have gone biometric, we have the technology and even introduced chip-based passports to the world. So ladies, bear with it for another 5 days or so.

Ham and I went to vote today at SK Taman Ahmad Razali Ampang Jaya.  Mek and Zaki voted at KDE, Sabrina at 1Utama. Whom did I vote for?  Of course BN.  Voting for PR is simply a no-no.   Why, because these clowns simply cannot govern.  They have been given five years (2008-12) to prove themselves as a possible alternative, so that we’d have a two party system.  Regrettably, they screwed up, big time.  In the five years, instead of governing they continued to behave like the Opposition. They went on and on with their criticizing spree and “politics of hate.”  PAS hated UMNO, DAP hated the MCA/BN and PKR hated Dr Mahathir. Added to that we had some fringe lunatics like Harris Ibrahim with his ABU (Anything but UMNO) mantra

and Hishamuddin Rais with his “let’s demo” as his pastime vocation. Dumbiga and unkempt Samad Said and their motley bunch of troublemakers with their “Bersih” thingy was fuelling the rioters with unclean money from foreign NGOs. PAS is naturally hopeless, having had Kelantan for 22 years and nothing to show for it. They can’t even provide clean water. And their leaders when caught on a sex video got away being hudud-ed with the blessings of their self-appointed Murshidul ‘Am and the party president. And they call themselves an Islamic party. Shiissh.  Kedah PAS govt was in a perpetual quarrel with a faction trying to oust the MB.  They also antagonized the non-Muslims with stupid rulings, besides destroying the eco-system by rampant logging at the Pedu lake catchment area. Meantime, their own University College, KUIN, suffered a financial crisis which is yet to be solved.

DAP had Penang.  Being an offshoot of LKY’s PAP when Singapore was kicked out of the Malaysian Federation in 1965, they of course carried on with LKY’s slogan of “Malaysian Malaysia” espousing meritocracy or “winner-take-all” policy as opposed to BN’s power-sharing or “prosper thy neighbour”  policy, that has proven to work well for the last 55 years. Also the fact that their leadership perpetuates dynastic rule of the Lim’s and the Karpal’s – is quietly camouflaged when they chant their war cry of Ubah (Change) for GE 13; quite oblivious of the fact that UMNO have changed their President six times; likewise MCA and MIC.  What hypocrites.  Worst still, the CM of Penang, a parachutist from Melaka, is trying to do a Singapore in Penang by building expensive high rise condos on acquired land that’s beyond the previous owners’ (read Malay) ability to buy. As a result, they had to move out to the mainland thus facilitating a subtle ethnic cleansing exercise. And for this GE, encouraged by the perceived high Chinese support for DAP’s Ubah war cry, LKS decided to jump over to Gelang Patah in Johor. And he did win although BN fielded Dato Ghani Othman, a well-liked good-report-card Johor MB for the last 18 years. Johor Chinese are sending a dangerous message indeed.

What about PKR.  Well, this is a party belonging to the Anwar family, nepotism of the highest order – mother as President, daughter as Vice-President and father as self-appointed Ketua Umum.  By the way, isn’t it strange to see that all the three parties of the illegal PR, having their leaders – Anwar, LKS and Nik Aziz – being self-appointed instead of voted in by their party members? What a mockery they make of democracy.  Unlike PAS and DAP, PKR was cobbled up in the wake of Anwar being kicked out of UMNO in 1999 and sent to jail for corruption (abuse of power) and Sodomy (which he got away with on account of a technicality.) It’s only 14 years since but most of his stalwart supporters have left him after realizing that they were taken for a ride by his acting ability, chameleon character and low moral standing; aided and abetted by his naïve wife. It’s amazing how he could get away with things – even Sodomy II (again on a technicality) after getting his case postponed more than 60 times in the course of four years; thanks to his lawyer, the wily but highly unprincipled Karpal Singh.  PKR have no credible policies to speak off; they even said that a manifesto is not a promise and therefore no obligation to honour. Their only aim is for Anwar to be PM. Period. And if Anwar is PM, then this disparate lot could occupy Putrajaya. God forbid.

Afternote: The voters did their thing. BN won with 133 seats with PR 89. Kedah was wrested back and Perak retained. End result: DAP kept Penang, PKR kept Selangor and PAS kept Kelantan. But in terms of the popular votes, PR had 50.87% and BN 47.38% – it was a Chinese tsunami with MCA, Gerakan and SUPP trounced.  Consequently, MCA decided not to accept any govt posts, not at State, or town and even village level.  A stupid merajuk attitude. Anwar, however, who was cocksure that PR would win and he become PM chose not to accept the results saying than BN and EC cheated; citing 40,000 Bangla phantoms, blackout during vote counting, washable indelible ink and other “scripted” accusations. So he went on a nationwide “Blackout 505” demo spree, with initial heavy turnout by the Chinese. PAS and the Azmin faction of PKR stayed away.  Finally when it came for the opening of Parliament on 24 May, Anwar and gang meekly attended and took the oath as MPs. However, to save face he has instituted a court case to have the results of the GE13 declared null and void and a fresh General Election be convened.

Faritz and his bicycles

My youngest son, Faritz, is a graduate of Swinburne University (Melbourne, Australia) in Industrial Design.  He graduated in January 2011; came home, looked for jobs that fit his qualification; but no joy.  His friends with similar education are also no better.  Apparently, our Malaysian industries don’t have a need for designers. They just manufacture OEM products. Those that do design work, have enough designers, supposedly.
So last January, he decided to do something related to his hobby.  He loved cycling and the fad is catching on in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia in general. The Le Tour de Langkawi annual races helped to popularise this sport.

The Swift modified to carry bikes	His room is like a workshop

One day, while loitering in Sri Hartamas, he saw a cycle shop looking understaffed. He went in and asked the manager for a job. He got it. And now, he is the manager.
It’s a high end bicycle shop selling bikes for racing, mountain rides, dirt track extreme sports and the likes. He has raced too and won an iPad. Now he is really hooked into it and would go to Putrajaya where the happenings are, to cycle to their hearts content in the middle of the night.

Ah passed away

My sister-in-law, Zulaikha -- or Ah as she was popularly known -- younger sister to Ham, passed away at the KLH early morning on Tuesday 21 May 2013.  She never recovered from the operation to her skull as a result of a fall somewhere along Jln Tuanku Abd Rahman on Saturday 18 May.  She was buried after zohor prayers at the Taman Bukit Teratai Muslim Cemetery in Cheras (see map.)

Ah’s death was a tragedy. She was under some kind of black magic spell for some eight years. She was transformed from an entrepreneurial lady to one that went round begging to borrow money to meet the demands of her tormentors. None of her relatives including me were spared her pleadings. She even went to friends and neighbours and remote acquaintances. It was embarrassing.  Even on the day she died, she was on an errand to obtain money to deposit RM 9K into an account. Her brother Jid, got this information from her hand phone that survived the fall.

A police report has been made and hopefully the perpetrators would be found, lest more victims end up like Ah.

50th Anniversary

It was my 50th wedding anniversary with Ham on 27 Jun 2013. Both  our daughters came back from their abode overseas (Ida from London  and Nani from Dubai) to celebrate with us. We had a kenduri  with  tazkirah by an ustaz from Algeria, who is a PhD student at the UIAM  Gombak.

We invited him because he was to deliver the tazkirah in English for the benefit of our sons-in-law Phillip Rolland (Ida's husband) and Scott Shuey (Nani's husband.) Our invited guests of family and friends, of course, had no problems with English. Unfortunately, my boys — except for Zaki and wife Sabrina — couldn't make it earlier because they went to KLIA to pick up Fahd who came back for his semester break from Wanganui, New Zealand. The boys' mother, Ku Mek couldn't make it either because she is wheel-chair bound having had a fall in the bedroom (cockroach punya pasal) on 10 Apr, to be exact.  Her sisters Ku Yang and Ku Lan came. And the boys came later with their friend Nazrin and had a good late dinner. 



The food was catered by Ruz Aladdin restaurant. Everybody praised the nasi biryani gam (Johor speciality), beef rendang, the tapai ubi (my favourite; reminds me of my musim Jepun and Nyah's expertise with tapioca preparations.)


All in all, it was a wonderful evening and the weather stayed fine without the haze that came from Indonesia a couple of days ago. The girls left early the next morning for their holidays in Vietnam (Ida and Phillip) and Kota Kinabalu (Nani and Scott.)  We wished they could have stayed longer. Ah well, at least they came back and for that we are grateful.

Jalil passed away

On Friday 18 Jan, 2013 Ham and I (and Chor) went back to Ipoh to see Jalil, Ham’s youngest brother at the Hospital Tuanku Bainun. He suffered a stroke the night before. He was in coma the whole time we were there (from 12:30 to 1:30 pm). His wife and daughters were at his bedside.

We went back to Kuala Lumpur at 4:00 pm. And at 3:30 am that night (19 Jan 2013) Ham received a call to say that Jalil had passed away, without regaining consciousness. Apparently he had a blocked blood vessel at the brain that affected his respiratory system. Ham went back to Ipoh with Hj Alias and his wife Hamidah. Jalil is Hamidah’s uncle. I couldn’t go because I had a wedding to attend that night and won’t be back in time for it, if I went. I was, however, glad that I went to see him at the hospital earlier when some of his closer relatives didn’t do so.

Jalil was a few week’s short of being 55 years old when he passed away. He left behind a wife and nine children.